There have been several recent encounters between boats and whales. Fortunately, neither whale nor humans appear to have been injured. The most serious took place off the Jersey Shore. Two fishermen in a 20-foot boat were fishing approximately one mile off of Deal, … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Hilary Lister has died at the age of 46. She was a quadriplegic from Kent, England who found escape and freedom in solo sailing. In doing so, she set many sailing records and serves as an inspiration to us all. Lister was … Continue reading
The good news is that Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane. The bad news is that it is still heading straight for the Hawaiian islands. The storm’s outer bands have been pounding parts of Hawaii’s Big … Continue reading
A quick two-question quiz — First question: What do US aircraft carriers have that the newest British carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, lacks? The answer is aircraft. The UK’s new aircraft carrier will be conducting flight trials with two borrowed US planes. Its own … Continue reading
In July we posted about the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, off South Korea. The salvors claimed that the ship may contain 200 tons of gold, which would they said may be worth around $133.4 billion (£102bn) in … Continue reading
Hope your Monday is going well. If not, you are still probably having a better time than one sailing couple had in Narragansett Bay last Friday and Saturday. A husband and wife were sailing their 38-foot sailboat Alegria from Newport, RI to … Continue reading
The HMS Queen Elizabeth set sail yesterday from Portsmouth Naval Base bound for the United States. The 65,000-tonne carrier, the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, will embark two US F-35B test aircraft to begin the first flight trials. The BBC reports … Continue reading
Two retired U.S. Navy chief petty officers and one retired captain were charged with bribery and fraud in the multi-year “Fat Leonard” criminal investigation, which has been described as the worst corruption scandal in Navy history. Leonard Glenn Francis, who at 6’3″ tall and … Continue reading
The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is one of the most polluted waterways in the nation. When I went to work for Moore McCormack many, many years ago, their New York terminal was on 23rd Street on the Gowanus. I recall … Continue reading
On Aug. 18, 1943, the destroyer USS Abner Read was on anti-submarine patrol near Kiska Island, in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. The Japanese had just recently evacuated the island but had left behind a minefield. At 1:50 a.m., the destroyer struck … Continue reading
Sometime between last Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, vandals broke into the USS Ling, a World War II-era Balao-class submarine, which has been a museum ship in the Hackensack River since 1973. The vandals stole four bronze plaques, dedicated to the sailors lost … Continue reading
We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Bert Rogers, the long-time Executive Director of Tall Ships America, who died of a heart attack. Our condolences to his family and all those who cared for him. Bert’s seafaring … Continue reading
The southern Caribbean has seen a significant increase in piracy of late, at least partially related to the economic and political turmoil in nearby Venezuela. Commerical ships, local fishermen and visiting yachts have all fallen prey to attacks from pirates. Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a … Continue reading
This summer, Canadian lobstermen are complaining of being harassed by US Border Patrol agents in speedboats as they fish in waters claimed by both Canada and the US off Machias Seal Island. Since around 1733, the US and Canada have agreed … Continue reading
The Bajau people of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia have lived for centuries at sea as hunter-gatherer nomads. They can spend up to five hours a day underwater, diving for fish, octopus and other seafood. The Bajau do not use any … Continue reading
Two hundred and four years ago this week, in a three day battle, the militia at Stonington, CT drove off a four ship Royal Navy flotilla during the War of 1812. Here is lightly edited repost about the battle from July … Continue reading
Lieutenant Randolph M. Prince, known as “Kaz,” had a pretty slick arrangement. “Kaz” was a supply officer in Virginia Beach, VA. Through friends, he set up sham companies which would be awarded government contracts by Prince. He would generate all the necessary paperwork and certify … Continue reading
Florida is being clobbered by a double algae disaster, a virtual algae apocalypse. Red tide, caused by karenia brevis algae is decimating sea life in the Gulf’s salt waters, while blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, is poisoning South Florida’s inland fresh … Continue reading
Congratulations to Bryce Carlson who shattered the record for rowing solo, unsupported, from west-to-east across the North Atlantic. He completed the roughly 2,000-mile row from St. John’s, Newfoundland to St. Mary’s Harbor, in the Isles of Scilly in just 38 days, 6 hours … Continue reading
In 2012, we posted about a sighting one of the first adult all white orca whales in the western North Pacific near the Kamchatka Peninsula. The observation was reported by Erich Hoyt, co-founder of the Far East Russia Orca Project. The rare … Continue reading